Current Journal of Applied Science and Technology

A field experiment was conducted at Bidi Tobacco Research Station, Anand Agricultural University, Anand for four years from 2014-15 to 2017-18 with the objective to study the effect of organic and inorganic sources of fertilizers on growth, yield and quality of bidi tobacco variety GABT 11. Results revealed that different manures and fertilizers failed to exert their significant effect on yield of bidi tobacco variety GABT 11 during all four years and in its pooled. Green manuring every year with sunnhemp recorded significantly maximum leaf size viz. leaf length and width followed by application of FYM @ 12.5 t/ha every year. Besides, Application of 180 kg N/ha through ammonium sulphate gave significantly higher tobacco plant height over application of 180 kg N/ha through castor cake and application of 135 kg N/ha through ammonium sulphate + 90 kg P₂O₅/ha through single super phosphate + 135 kg K₂O/ha through sulphate of potash. Maximum monetary returns with benefit: cost ratio of 2.68 accrued with treatment of 180 kg N/ha through Ammonium sulphate. Among different bulky manures, green manuring with sunnhemp every year gave maximum gross income and net income with BCR value 2.43.

Potential adjacent coal mine paddy soils often endure low soil and plant productivity through unscientific mining activities causing acid mine drainage. But the extent of its effect to soil is not known, therefore the study was taken to characterize coal mine affected lowland fields on the basis of soil acidity, identify the best amelioration practices and evaluate the performance on rice productivity at farmers’ field level. An experiment with a completely randomised block design (5 replicates) was performed to determine the effects of poultry manure (PM), compost (C), lime (L), paper mill sludge (PMS) and microbial consortium (MC) with their suitable combination through pot experimentation at College of Post Graduate Studies followed by the preeminent selected practices at field trials at Khliehriat, Meghalaya. The factors used were PM and C (10 t ha^-1), L as CaCO₃, PMS (250 and 500 kg ha^-1) and MC were incorporated at appropriate rates. On categorization, two locations were found to exhibit extremely pH acid soil (pH 4.51 ± 0.51) i.e. Moonlakhep (L1) and ultra pH soil (pH 3.14 ± 0.23) i.e. Ladrymbai (L2). Integration of practices showed significant increase in soil acidic indices such as soil pH by 6% to 23% and significant decrease in exchangeable acidity by 49% to 18% with T₄ at both locations. Confined increases of soil organic carbon by 12% to 40% with enhanced available soil nutrients by 40% at high optimum rates were noticed. Yield attributes were significantly influenced by different treatments. Highest plant height (83.58 cm and 81.32 cm), grain yield (3436 kg ha^-1 and 3120 kg ha^-1) were recorded under the practices of T₄. However, stover yield (7875 kgha^-1) was noticed in T₈ at L1 and at L2 maximum in T₄ (7420 kgha^-1). Soil acidic indices, nutrient and crop growth were influenced at high optimum rates of soil amendment and enhanced with PM amended soil.

Excessive N application may limit the crop yields, and it could be minimized by the use of Silicon in rice ecosystem. Initially, a survey was conducted and revealed that rice grown soils were low in available Si (73.62 to 96.41 kg SiO₂ ha^-1). As well as Si concentration of rice genotypes ranged from 1.54 to 3.15% and grain yield ranged from 2653 to 6860 kg ha^-1 and exerted a significant positive correlation (r = 0.55**). Based on initial phase of results, a field experiment was conducted with each four levels of N (0, 80, 120 & 160 kg ha^-1) and Si (0, 200, 400 & 600 kg ha^-1). Among the N and Si doses, application of T₁₆(N₁₆₀ + Si₆₀₀) recorded highest grain yield (7180 kg ha^-1) and was on par with the treatments received N@120 and 160 kg ha^-1 along with Si@200, 400 and 600 kg ha^-1. The status of available nutrients viz., N, P₂O₅, K₂O, SiO₂, Zn, Cu, and N-fractions were obtained high with T₁₆ (N₁₆₀ + Si₆₀₀), which was at par with the treatments of T₁₅ (N₁₆₀ + Si₄₀₀) > T₁₄ (N₁₆₀ + Si₂₀₀) > T₁₂ (N₁₂₀ + Si₆₀₀) > T₁₁ (N₁₂₀ + Si₄₀₀) > T₁₀ (N₁₂₀ + Si₂₀₀).

The present study entitled “Bioefficacy study of Bacillus subtilis based biofungicide on leaf spot disease, growth and yield attributes of tomato [Solanum lycopersicum L.] cv. ArkaVikas” was conducted at Vegetable Research Farm, Department of Horticulture, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi during rainy season of 2016-17 in Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three replications. The treatments included foliar spray of chemical fungicide (Copper oxychlooride) and biofungicide (Taegro® and Trichoderma) either alone or in combination. Taegro® is a bacterial biofungicide containing 1×10¹⁰ CFU/g (13%w/w) of Bacillus amyloliuefaciens strain FZB24 formulated as WP. A total of 12 characters including disease, growth and yield parameters were studied. Disease parameter included leaf spot disease incidence (%) and disease severity (%) whereas growth and yield parameters included days to 50% flowering, height, number of branches per plant, fruit length (cm), fruit width (cm), number of fruits per plant, average fruit weight (g), number of seed per fruit, fruit yield per plot (kg), fruit yield per hectare (kg) were studied. The biofungicide Taegro exhibited significant potential in reducing the leaf spot in tomato and improving the growth and yield attributes of tomato as compared to control. But combined used of Taegro with standard chemical copper oxychloride gave better result than Taegro alone. As a consequence, this may be used as part of an integrated disease management approach so as to minimizes the use of standard fungicides and also protect the environment from pollution and maintenance of the human health.

To study the “Nutrient Status of Apple Orchard Soils of South Kashmir” a survey was carried in twenty apple orchards (cv. Red Delicious) of south Kashmir. The soil samples were analyzed for studying the Correlation between physico-chemical characteristic and available nutrients. The correlation coefficient studies revealed that pH indicated significant and positive correlation coefficient with exchangeable calcium and magnesium and exhibited significant and negative relationship with available nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulphur, iron, manganese, zinc and copper. The organic carbon showed positive and significant correlation coefficient with available nitrogen, phosphorus, sulphur, iron, zinc and copper. The calcium carbonate showed significant and positive correlation with exchangeable calcium and magnesium but significant and negative correlation coefficient with available nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, iron, manganese and zinc. The clay content revealed significant and positive relationship with available potassium only. The leaf analysis showed that apple orchards were adequate in all nutrients, whileas, nitrogen was marginal to high and phosphorus was marginal to adequate.

The present investigation was carried out for “Mitigation of Arsenic concentration in green leafy vegetables viz. Cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata), Spinach (Spinacia oleracea) and Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis) through different biochemical washing techniques”. The agrarian farmers of Nathnagar block in Bhagalpur district of Bihar mostly cultivate vegetables such as cabbage, spinach, cauliflower etc. The farmers irrigate their farm by the polluted water of Champa-nala (main source of irrigation) which contain huge amount of highly health hazardous waste. The farmers are unaware of the harmful effect of the polluted water that they are using for irrigating vegetables, they feel happy to get the water free of cost for irrigating their crops. The morphology of crop which is irrigated with polluted water seems likely to the crop irrigated with clean water. At maturity, farmers harvest their crops and sell them in their local market which becomes the constituent of our food chain. The results revealed that in cabbage leaf, the maximum concentration of arsenic observed in unwashed samples (T1) was 427.69 ppb, the distance of 50 m away from the contaminated site. The maximum reduction percentage was 27.30% with a mean value of 13.76% observed after employing the treatments T6 (washed with 8% ginger solution). In spinach the maximum concentration of arsenic observed in unwashed samples (T1) was 351.00 ppb, the distance of 50 m away from the contaminated site. The maximum reduction percentage of 30.20% with a mean value of 16.93% of arsenic was observed after employing the treatments T6 (washed with 8% ginger solution) whereas in cauliflower the maximum concentration of arsenic observed in unwashed samples (T1) was 469.06 ppb, the distance of 50 m away from the contaminated site. The maximum reduction of 29.93% with a mean value of 15.37% was observed after employing the treatment T6 (washed with 8% ginger solution). However, the concentrations of Arsenic was higher in unwashed leaves of the vegetables grown in the industrial areas which indicates that industrial discharge causes heavy contamination of soil and eventually their accumulation in plants.

This cross-sectional descriptive study assessed the hygienic and safety measures among street food vendors in the Urban district of Zanzibar. A total of 265 food vendors with immobile food vending units were involved. Data were gathered using a structured researcher-administered questionnaire and complemented with observation. Compliance ranks to food safety and hygiene were established based on computed compliance scores. Descriptive statistics and chi-squared tests (α = 0.05) were employed in data analyses. The results indicated that only a moderate fraction of the vendors have had formal training in food safety and hygiene, however the majority of whom demonstrated great awareness about food safety and hygiene. Among the surveyed vending sites 36% appeared clean, 50.2% and 42.6% vending sites had waste bin and / or refuse sites respectively, wash basin (44.9%) and soap availability (47.2%).  Safe food handling practices included food covering (57.4%), adequate protection of food from flies and dust (40.8%), cold preservation of food (28.3%), saving food hot or reheated before sale (35.1%), dishing out food with appropriate gadgets (53%). Observed good food hygiene conducts included washing hands with soap before preparing food (always 63%, sometimes 34%), washing hands with soap after toilet visit (always 33.2%, sometimes 46.8%), clean finger nail (98.5%), hair protection (33.6%) and use of apron (29%). The results likewise indicate an overall compliance of 0.50 on environmental hygiene of vending site, 0.45 on food handling practices, and 0.66 on vendors’ hygiene and sanitary practices. This implies an average overall compliance with the hygiene of the vending site and food handling practices and good overall compliance with the vendors’ hygiene and sanitary practices. Chi-square analysis revealed that gender, education attainments, formal training on food safety and vending duration are influencing factors for food safety and hygiene measures.

Carrot (Daucus carota L) is a carotenoids rich vegetable which is mainly consumed raw, converted to various products and cooked vegetable dishes. Present studies were carried out to study the changes observed in quality characteristics of dried carrot roundels during storage. Steam blanching and KMS dipping of carrot roundels followed by mechanical cabinet drying was found to be the best pretreatment for drying of carrot roundels as discussed earlier. These dried carrot roundels were further packed and stored under refrigerated (4-7°C) and ambient (11.6-26.2°C) storage conditions for 12 months. The dried carrot roundels packed in aluminium laminated pouches and stored under refrigerated conditions showed minimum increase in physico-chemical characteristics like moisture content (11.03%), water activity (0.310), pH (6.04), reducing sugars (21.00%), total sugars (35.36%) and retained highest amounts of titratable acidity (0.73%), carotenoids (29.40mg/100g), total phenols (87.50mg/100g), crude fibres (4.16%), rehydration ratio (7.81), antioxidant activity (52.68%) and SO₂ content (174.75 ppm), respectively. The sensory characteristics scores like colour (8.05), texture (7.48), taste (6.88) and overall acceptability (7.54), respectively were also retained highest in the aluminium laminated pouch under refrigerated storage condition.

The half-life of maternal antibody (mAb) titres against Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV) were estimated in order to trace its likely declining pattern and the influence on the efficacy of vaccination in broiler chicks. Our study was also conducted to compare two vaccination regimens with live and inactivated NDV vaccine. For this purpose, ninety day-old broiler chicks with known NDV vaccination history of parent stock were randomly allocated into three groups (I) unvaccinated control, (II) Live NDV vaccine, and (III) Live + Inactivated NDV vaccine. Haemagglutination-inhibition (HI) antibodies were determined in the pre- and post-vaccination sera of the experimental chicks. The results indicated that the unvaccinated group showed higher level of mAb against NDV at day 1 with HI antibody titre (Log₂) 9.32 which was maintained up to 7 days of age (8.11) and gradually declined with no measurable antibodies of maternal origin after day 14, signifying the initiation of Newcastle Disease (ND) vaccination at 7 days of age. The vaccinated Group II and III revealed significantly higher HI titre at day 14 (11.52, 12.42), day 21 (12.95, 13.22), day 28 (11.63, 12.18) and day 35 (13.31, 13.39) than the unvaccinated control group I. Moreover, there is no significant difference in humoral immune response among both the vaccinated groups. Thus, our study suggests the use of live NDV vaccines for ND prevention in commercial broiler farming over the inactivated NDV vaccines which demands a withdrawal period before slaughter and its economic implication due to additional cost. This study also indicated that the half-life values of mAb and its effect should be considered while customizing an effective vaccine regimen.

A field experiment was conducted during Navarai season of 2017 at research farm of Agronomy, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru College of Agriculture and Research Institute, Karaikal, Puducherry, India on investigate the performance of seed priming practices at different dates of sowing (February 6^th, February 13^th and February 20^th) under aerobic condition. The results indicated that among the dates of sowing, crop sown on 6^th February produced higher grain yield of 2591 kg ha^-1. Correlation studies revealed that the direct weather parameters such as maximum and minimum temperature, rainfall, morning and evening relative humidity, total evaporation were significantly contributing to the rice grain yield and DMP. Similarly, the derived weather parameters viz., mean Diurnal Variation Temperature (DVT) total Growing Degree Day (GDD), total Helio Thermal Units (HTU), total Photo Thermal Units (PTU) and total Heat Unit Efficiency (HUE) were also significantly contributing to the rice grain yield. From the studyprovedthatthe sowing window February 6^thto be more effective for realizing higher productivity of aerobic rice during Navarai season at Karaikal district of Puducherry.

Litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) originated from South China, it is sub-tropical evergreen fruit crops, especially grown on the marginal climate of tropics and subtropics. It is delicious juicy fruit of India having excellent nutritional quality, pleasant flavoured, good amount of antioxidant and vitamins C, vitamin B-complex and phytonutrients flavonoids. It has a great potential to earn foreign exchange in the national and international market through export. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) infection is a common association between plant roots and microorganisms. It is responsible for increasing plant nutrient uptake and also increases in macro and micronutrients in leaf. Therefore, the present work has been analyzed macro and micro nutrients from soil and leaf, after 60, 90 and 120 days after inoculation of two bio-inoculants with phosphorus (SSP) including nine treatments with three replications. After 120 days of inoculation both the species of mycorrhizal combination with phosphorus application were very effective. Highest Copper content is (10.99 ppm), Zinc (33.17 ppm), Iron (121.47 ppm) and Manganese (15.33 ppm) was recorded in case T5 (G. mosseae 10 g + Phosphorus 50 mg kg^-1 of soil) which is gradually increases. The soil nutrient content gradually decreased with time duration but no- significant difference was found among treatments after 120 days inoculation. After 120 days potting result was found that the Copper content is (1.70 ppm), Zinc (3.07 ppm), Iron (7.80 ppm) and Manganese (4.00 ppm) was recorded in case T5 (G. mosseae 10 g + Phosphorus 50 mg kg-1 of soil).this research was undertaken to find out whether Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) infection and phosphorus affect the micro-nutrient status of soil and leaves in nursery stage.

In India, onion is grown during Kharif, late Kharif and Rabi season, though Rabi is the main crop. India is the second largest producer of onion in the world after China. The onion is grown as bulb crop, some inflorescence stalks are produced before formation of normal bulbs known as bolting, it is not a desirable because it stop the development of bulbs in bulbing crops. These bulbs become fibrous and light in weight. The study conducted at Nashik and Karnal during kharif, 2017, revealed that at Nashik, the highest gross yield (360.71 q/ha) and marketable yield (356.44 q/ha) were recorded in the check variety NHRDF Red-4 and found at par with all the advance lines except L-764, L-705, L-743, L-833 and L-872. Highest total soluble solids (12.07%) and dry matter (13.58%) were noted in check variety NHRDF Red-3, however at Karnal, the highest gross yield (198.36 q/ha) and marketable yield (183.44 q/ha) were recorded in advance line L-883 and found at par with advance lines L-863, L-882 and L-884 in respect of gross yield. Highest total soluble solids (15.01%) was recorded in the advance line L-881 and found at par with the advance lines L-653, L-682 and L-880. It is concluded from the study that the advance lines such as L-883 and NHRDF Red-4, which has highest yield can be utilized for higher yield. Regarding bolting behavior, no bolters were recorded in lines L-705, L-748, L-750, L-831, L-833, L-870, L-888, L-890, L-894 and check NHRDF Red-4, however, these lines can be utilized by onion breeder for developing good quality onion variety for different agroclimatic condition.

Seven different methods of artificial inoculation such as 1. Carborundum injury, 2. Pin prick injury 3. Sand paper injury, 4. Syringe inoculation on lower surface of leaf without needle, 5. Syringe inoculation of veins on lower surface of leaf with needle, 6. Tooth picks inoculation on collar region and 7. Pressurized spray inoculation were evaluated to find out the efficient and precise screening method for cotton bacterial blight caused by Xanthomonas citri pv. malvacearum under controlled conditions (plant growth chamber). Inoculated seedlings were incubated at 28°C, 90% RH and 3000 LUX light intensity during day time and 22°C, 90% RH and absence of light during night time for symptom development. Among them, pin prick injury recorded maximum PDI (64.25) in 20-24 days post inoculation followed by sand paper injury (56.50 PDI) in 23-27 days post inoculation on 20 day old LRA 5166 cotton seedlings compared to other methods. Both these methods developed all types of symptoms. Initial symptom of water soaked lesion was appeared in 7-8 days post inoculation in pin prick injury while it was 9-10 days in sand paper injury.

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) is one of the world’s major legume crops and suffers substantial damage from wilt disease caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceri( Padwick) with yield loss over 60 per cent. It is an important soil borne plant pathogen and is difficult to manage by application of chemical pesticides. Moreover, the chemical control is costly and leads to residual effect. A plethora of reports indictes the efforts made to reduce environmental effects and rationalize the use of pesticides and manage the pathogen more effectively through Integration of Disease Management (IDM). Application of soil amendments and specific bio-control agents also incorporated in IDM which has potential to suppress soil-borne pathogens through manipulation of the physicochemical and microbiological environment. Therefore, IDM approach for controlling chickpea Fusarium wilt might be a cost effective and eco-friendly approach.

Zinc deficiency is associated with impaired growth, poor immune function and also adverse pregnancy outcomes. The main strategies to alleviate mineral deficiencies are food diversification, food fortification or supplementation. Recently, there is a growing interest on the metal oxide nano-particles owing to its various aspects such as bactericidal agents, destruction of carcinogenic cells and drug delivery applications. Fortification of zinc can be done with Zinc oxide (ZnO), currently listed as a generally recognized as safe (GRAS) material by the Food and Drug Administration. Due to the high antibacterial activity, chemical stability and solubility, nano-ZnO shows great interests in the application in fields of food additives, packing and agriculture, and biomedicine. The minced fish technology minimizes wastes, efficiently uses existing resources, helps in production of new versatile and nutritious foods and provides economic advantage to both the producer and consumer. Minced meat is used as a raw material for preparation of number of value-added products such as fish sausage, cakes, cutlets, patties, balls, pastes, texturized products, etc. Tilapia, an economically important food fish, is hardy and easy-to-grow, white-fleshed, mild-flavored and soothing palatability, thus regarded as a successful farmed fish and raw material of fish mince and subsequently surimi. During frozen or refrigerated storage, fish mince undergoes degradation; significant deterioration of sensory quality and loss of nutritional value have been detected as a result of changes in the protein and lipid fractions, formation of amines (volatile and biogenic) and hypoxanthine and changes in the physical properties of the muscle. The use of Zinc nanoparticles may be an efficient way of extending shelf life and food safety through the inhibition of spoilage and pathogenic bacteria without altering the nutritional quality of raw materials and food products due to broad-spectrum antibacterial activity of ZnO Np against pathogenic bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella enteritidis, Salmonella typhimurium, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Campylobacter jejuni, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Listeria monocytogenes. Thus, after reviewing a wide range of literatures, it can be projected that development of low-cost Zn Nano-particle fortified value-added fish product is the ultimate future to eradicate zinc deficiency and can be rational kick start to alleviate protein as well as zinc malnutrition.

Global warming - a new global challenge in front of agricultural scientists, affecting almost all the climatic parameters involving air temperature and rainfall intensity and distributions. Elevated levels of greenhouse gases (GHGs) viz. carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide etc. are only because of faulty agricultural practices viz. intensive tilling, burning of crop residues, which further adversely affecting both land and water productivity. As per one projection that global surface air temperatures may increase by 4.0–5.8°C in upcoming few decades which offset the likely benefits of increasing atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide on crop plants. Over space and time, new environmental conditions created which might be responsible for frequent droughts, higher temperatures, flooding, salinity, increased carbon dioxide levels, rise in sea-level, irregular rainfall patterns and shifting of pest dynamics etc. Therefore, global warming cycle needs to break down through forestation, using crop residues on soil as mulch or in soils as biochar instead of burning, and adopting certain agricultural practices or developing new plant cultivars which response to CO₂ under higher temperature conditions etc which helps to reduces rather mitigate the adverse effects of the global warming. Further, changes in diets, minimum tillage operations and reductions in food wastage will also serve the purpose. The present review highlighted the crucial reasons for global warming, its impacts on agriculture and finally on mitigation strategies, which helps to improve the agricultural productivity and finally livelihoods of the farmers.